The present invention relates to a cleaning article, the cleaning surface of which is rubbed over a surface to be cleaned to remove pet hair, human hair, etc.
Pet hair, human hair, etc. heavily clinging to a carpet or a rug are not easy to remove even by vacuuming.
A cleaning article having a tacky substance on its cleaning side is known. The cleaning article of this type is applied to a carpet to catch and remove hairs, etc. clinging thereto by making use of the tackiness of the cleaning side. Since the tack of the cleaning side decreases in repeated use, the sheet must be renewed frequently. Frequent renewal is against resources saving.
A cleaning article of block form made of foamed natural rubber, the natural rubber serving as a cleaning surface, is also known. This article (hereinafter referred to as a natural rubber article) is wiped over a carpet to catch pet hair, etc. clinging to the carpet by making use of the greater frictional force between the cleaning surface and the hairs than that between the hairs and the carpet.
The natural rubber article has the following disadvantages however. The natural rubber of the cleaning surface is apt to peel because of low rubbing resistance. Because the pet hair, etc. removed from a carpet, etc. adhere to the cleaning surface by static electricity, they then have to be removed from the cleaning surface. Because natural rubber has extremely low light resistance, the natural rubber article gradually reduces the frictional coefficient with exposure to light. As a result, the frictional force between the cleaning surface and pet hair, etc. reduces, and the ability to catch pet hair, etc. is weakened. If the natural rubber article is washed and dried in the sun, the natural rubber of the cleaning surface peels. When dried in the shade to prevent peeling, the article takes much time to dry. Thus, the natural rubber article is unsuited to repeated use.
An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning article with which extraneous matter clinging to an object of cleaning, such as pet hair clinging to a carpet, can be removed easily and which is suitable for repeated use.
The present invention accomplishes the above object by providing a cleaning article comprising an elastomer sheet having a synthetic elastomer disposed on the surface thereof, the synthetic elastomer forming a cleaning surface, wherein the elastomer sheet has a maximum static frictional force of 9.8 to 29 N. The static frictional force is a frictional force required for moving a 1 kg weight having a flat rectangular base of 50 mm by 75 mm and having the elastomer sheet stuck to the entire surface of the base on a horizontally spread polypropylene carpet having cut piles 7 mm in length at a density of a {fraction (1/10)} gauge and 43 stitches/10 cm in the direction of the longer side of the base.